Friday Fictioneers: Of Knocking Down Barriers and Climbing Stairs

Friday Fictioneers is based on the seemingly simple premise of one photo turning into a one hundred-word story.  Often much blood, sweat and tears go into the honing of those few words and an enormous variety of stories are presented weekly.  You can read the results by clicking on the link at the end of this post or participate by going to the web site of our hostess, Rochelle, who also provided this photo of a stairway for this week’s jumping-off point.

copyright Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

                                   Of Knocking Down Barriers and Climbing Stairs

Some days it was so difficult to try to help;
    to see them stumbling, falling, dropping things,
    to hear swears of frustration, anger, pain,
    to witness their lonely, determined struggles.    

Some had scars/burns that changed them beyond recognition.
Some had wives/husbands/parents/children who never came;
    who couldn’t bear the sight of what their loved ones had become
    or what they no longer were:

   whole, strong, healthy bulwarks,
   confident and confidants,
   husbands/wives/parents/children with resources to care, 
   who looked the way they were remembered.

Yet they had fought, and sometimes now wish they had died, for us and for our freedom.

D-Day

In a moment of serendipity, today on the anniversary of D-Day, while shopping, I met a veteran of the United States Airforce and his wife.  I thanked him for his service and we talked awhile about his experiences.